Weekend Subway Service Has Gotten A Little Better, But That Won’t Stop Us From Complaining

September 24, 2011

One of our favorite things to do on the weekends is gripe, bitch, and generally complain as much as we possibly can about how shitty the subway service is. A lot. But new data reported in the New York Post shows the bane of our existence actually made a small step toward becoming less of a bane. Kind of.

The percentage of time that the 1 through 6 trains ran on schedule during the weekends in July 2011 was up 2.2 percent from that same month in 2010, this year making it to the appropriate stop at an appropriate time 83.2 percent of the time. A factor in that increase was the fact that there was less track work getting in everyone’s way on those lines this summer compared to last, an MTA spokesman told the Post.

But these new numbers also show that subways are more likely to be deemed late on the weekdays rather than the weekends, the Post reports. This is, in part, because there are more stringent standards for trains to get to the station on time on the weekdays when trains run more frequently, compared to on the weekends when the trains are supposed to be a little more lethargic.

It’s assumed that we’re more likely to be in a rush during the week so a smaller amount of extra time we have to wait for the train should theoretically make us more antsy. But we’re New Yorkers, and we are therefore perpetually in a state of rush. Come Saturday we are not content to sit at home and dawdle in our pajamas: Weekend ridership has increased twofold in the past 20 years. We have boozy brunches to get to, MTA! That said, it should be noted that the MTA is aware of this problem, and is at least trying to make us less pissed off.

We’ve put in a call to the MTA to get some more information and will let you know if we hear back. For now you should know that as of 11:01 a.m. there is planned work on the 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F, M, G, L, N, Q, and R lines and delays on the 4, 5 and 6 line.